Queen Sugar, if you haven’t seen the new show on Bravo (Canada) and OWN, you are missing out. I have not read the book Queen Sugar so I don’t know how it compares to the television adaptation. It is a contemporary story, but not so much – the more things change the more they stay the same.
The story is about a Louisiana family, three estranged siblings, Charley, Ralph Angel and Nova brought together to oversee the sugarcane farm, the legacy of their father after he falls ill. Nova is a journalist who also believes and practices the rituals of “voodoo”. Ralph Angel, is an ex convict, struggling to raise his boy and stay on the right side of the law. While sister Charley, is dealing with a scandal involving her professional basketball player husband. The story lines aren’t necessarily new but Ava DuVernay is a supreme storyteller. The characters, their depth, their layers, are slowly introduced giving you time to connect with them. The cinematography is brilliant; it helps to bring you in, not just an observer or distant voyeur but elicits compassion for the characters and their human frailties.
Produced by Oprah, script written and directed by Ava DuVernay.
